In the processing of poultry for the market, it is conventional to truss the enviscerated bird by retaining the legs of the fowl in folded relationship to each other against the body. Although numerous types of ties and the like have been developed for this purpose, the most practical and widely used trussing device, at least for turkeys, is described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,112,515. This patented device comprises a single wire unit bent to engage the hocks of an eviscerated bird and having depending hooked legs adapted to extend through "kidney holes" in the back of the bird for retaining the legs in place across the rear body opening. The present invention is an improvement over this patented device and may also be inexpensively formed of galvanized wire, for example.
The trussing of poultry during processing to hold the legs in a predetermined position, preferrably against the body is primarily accomplished to improve the uniformity of the product and to improve the appearance of the product for sale. Although poultry for processing are usually of relatively uniform size, it is necessary for the legs or drumsticks to be held down for uniform bags or boxes to be employed for packaging and/or shipping. Additionally, processed poultry is much more attractive with the legs held down and close to the body. Unfortunately the legs of poultry have a natural tendency to lock in position up and away from the body as the body temperature is reduced after killing, much like a horse or cow.
Proper trussing of poultry during processing requires that the joint between thigh and leg be severely bent and the leg then be firmly held down against the body. Such trussing is extremely difficult after cooling when the joints become locked in an undesirable position. Modern cooling and chilling procedures are employed in present day processing to save time; however, these procedures incorporate rough handling of the poultry so that it is more difficult to hold the legs in desired or trussed position. Consequently, the present device has been developed to solve these problems.
The ever growing popularity of turkey meat has produced advanced processing techniques and equipment for more effective and automated processing of poultry. The foregoing has increased the demands on and necessitated changes and improvements in trussing devices. While the practicality of the above-described device has long been established, the present invention has been designed and structured to be more effective in meeting these demands.